A comparison of Chinese and Australian university students' attitudes towards plagiarism

Abstract

Student plagiarism is a growing problem within Australian universities and abroad. Potentially exacerbating this situation, research indicates that students' attitudes toward plagiarism are typically more permissive and lenient than the policies of their tertiary institutions. There has been suggestion that this is especially so in Asian countries relative to Western countries; however, very little research has sought to empirically validate this suggestion. Moreover, existing research in this area has typically compared international and domestic students studying in Western countries. As yet, no studies have directly compared Chinese and Australian university students' attitudes toward plagiarism, as they exist within their native countries. Rasch analysis/ differential item functioning were conducted to contrast 131 Australian and 173 Chinese undergraduate university students' attitudes towards plagiarism. Results indicated distinct cross-cultural differences in aspects of students' plagiarism attitudes. Regardless of ethnic background, the results highlight undergraduate students' typical lack of understanding of plagiarism and plagiarist behaviours. students. The author attributed this result to academic pressure (i.e., workloads) and the perception that many international students were doing likewise. Generalisation of these findings, however, is complicated by the unique demands of studying abroad. For instance, in addition to typical coursework demands, international students also must overcome unique and significant language barriers, which have been associated with plagiarist behaviours (Devlin and Gray 2007). It is therefore difficult to determine whether these findings provide an accurate reflection of cultural differences in attitudes towards plagiarism or the additional pressures international students face in a foreign learning environment.Furthermore, plagiarism is a highly complex phenomenon and, as such, it is likely that there is no single explanation for why individuals engage in plagiarist behaviours. In fact, At the heart of this issue is whether or not there are genuine cross-cultural differences in attitudes toward plagiarism. To address this issue, the current study surveyed Chinese and Australian university students studying domestically in order to compare these students' attitudes toward plagiarism and the perceived factors contributing to plagiarist behaviours.Importantly, the cross-cultural comparison of university students studying domestically minimises the conflation of the unique demands of studying abroad. As such, any differences in plagiarism attitudes can more readily be attributed to cross-cultural differences in attitudes Method ParticipantsParticipants were domestic undergraduate students enrolled at either an Australian (n = 131) or Chinese university (n = 173). In the Australian sample there were significantly more females than males (80.9% female), the pattern of which was reversed in the Chinese sample (19.3% female). All Australian students were enrolled in...

What It Means to Be a Student Today

“…They may regard compilation of authoritative fragments and quotations, rather than original contributions, as their principal task. Students coming from South Asia or East Asia, and parts of Africa, are generally seen as inheritors of ideologies of sharing and originality quite at odds with those that enforce individual, independent creation (Wong 2013;Ehrich et al 2014;Heckler and Forde 2015).…”

Plagiarism in the Context of Education and Evolving Detection Strategies

“…Likewise, a survey of Australian and Chinese undergraduates concluded that Australians are more negative toward plagiarism (31). Although cultural, linguistic and psychological factors determine the behavior of plagiarists, the lack of institutional anti-plagiarism policies is believed to play a more important role (32).…”

Technical and Non-Technical Programme Students’ Attitudes and Reasons for Plagiarism

“…Undeniably, the upward trend for plagiarism among non-English speaking countries is also emerging. Researches have shown that this trend is becoming prevalent in Asian countries too (Ehrich, et al, 2014). Albeit studies in Asian countries, particularly in Malaysia are limited, Smith (2007), Iberahim, et al, (2013), Ting (2013, Mah and Ting (2013), Musa and Ting (2013);Ting, Musa and Mah (2014), Jansz and Sari (2015), Cheah (2015), Razali et al (2016), and Bava Harji, Chetty, Ismail and Letchumanan (2016) have provided evidence for plagiarism being equally rampant in non-English speaking countries.…”